Intertwined Hearts
by Stormyblaze
Summary: Three cats who lead different lives. A plot that would twist the clans. Fear that arises from within when cats show up murdered. These three things weave a path that none knew they could tread. It's this path that unites three cats, but will they be able to handle the constant threats of dying or run from it?
1. Misery

**Chapter 1 - Misery**

Tigerpaw awoke to the sound of a voice.

"Tigerpaw," the voice was full of malice and hatred.

Her eyes were unfocused for awhile as she stared at the ground of the Windclan apprentice's den. She felt the brambles prick at her pelt while she tried to pinpoint the voice. When the golden tabby she-cat did, shelooked up and she knew instantly what she was about to see.

A golden-brown tom loomed in front of her, his mouth in a maniacal grin. Her heart beat fast and before she could dash away, his giant paws slammed her to the ground. Tigerpaw struggled, even though she knew she wasn't strong enough to break through.

"What's wrong, I just want to have a little _talk_ with my daughter," he sneered the word talk.

"N-No you don't! You just want to hurt me! I'll never trust you, Goldstripe!" her voice sounded like a pitiful whine as she spoke.

Goldstripe snickered. He extended a claw and sliced along her cheek, drawing blood. "Of course," he purred. His eyes turned hard and cold and his grin broke into a snarl. "You're the one who killed my mate!" he spat.

Tigerpaw let out a small shrill, but her father batted her head away before it could get louder. "Now, now, _bug_, behave for your father."

Tigerpaw's tail straightened out and her eyes narrowed. "You're not my father," she said weakly.

"What?"

"You are _not _my father," she repeated quietly.

Goldstipe dug his claws into her chest and she flinched. He bared his teeth. The pain raced through her body. It hurt. The feeling circulated and blossomed in her chest, bringing forth a little scream from her throat.

"What's wrong!?" someone had heard her and was coming to her rescue.

Goldstipe quickly shoved her into the back of the den, which was made from brambles. The thorns pierced her skin and she let out a shriek of pain. The Windclan deputy, Blackwing, came into the apprentice's den, a worried expression on his face.

It quickly turned to surprise when he saw Goldstripe's paws painted with blood. "What happened?" he mewed.

The golden-brown tom gave Tigerpaw a quick glare before looking at the deputy, his cold expression replaced with a worried one. "Oh, she got herself tangled in brambles and I was just trying to get her out. Can you help me?"

"Sure."

The two cats wrestled with the brambles to get to Tigerpaw. She shied away from her father's paw and went towards Blackwing's. The black deputy with white paws stifled a purr as he and Goldstripe pulled her out. He removed a few thorns from her pelt with soft, careful motions of her teeth.

"Be careful next time you want to go into a bramble bush," Blackwing mewed with warm amber eyes.

"I-I will," the golden tabby she-cat looked at her paws, avoiding her father's icy gaze.

"Good," Blackwing gave a quick nod to Goldstripe and left the den.

The golden-brown tom curled his lips in disgust. "What a friendly kittypet, he doesn't deserve to be deputy."

_And you do!?_ she wanted to snarl, but she held back the temptation with fear. Her father turned on her.

"Don't speak of this!" he snapped before starting to depart. He stopped at the entrance. "Oh, and if you do tell, expect something just _awful_ to happen." Goldstripe snickered, his moods turning different quickly.

Tigerpaw crumpled to the ground, her eyes dull and emotionless. They wouldn't reveal the sadness and misery in her heart, she made sure of that. It would only bring unwanted questions. She picked herself up and dragged herself outside to meet the busy WIndclan camp. She spotted a couple of warriors and Blackwing, who was probably ordering cats to cover up the brambles for her.

_My life is horrible_, she thought miserably to herself. _Getting hurt by my father is almost an everyday thing. _She was so deep in her anger and sadness that she didn't notice the gray cat approaching her. He prodded her side and she glanced up. Her blue eyes met his gold ones. It was Sharpfang, a cold and independent tom. He prodded her with a claw and growled irritably.

"Get up. Spottedstar wants you," the tom snorted, "lazy, no-good apprentice."

Tigerpaw wanted to glare at him for that last insult but she replaced that thought with the fact that Spottedstar had asked for her. Anxiety fluttered in her belly. _Why_ would their leader ask for a pitiful apprentice like her. Nonetheless, she made her way to the small dip in the ground that made up the entrance of the leader's den.

"Tigerpaw?"

The golden she-cat recognized it as Spottedstar's voice. It was kind but with an edge of authority. She felt a bit uncomfortable under her leader's warm gaze. Tigerpaw felt a sudden breeze stir through her pelt.

"Tigerpaw, good of you to come. I have noticed you aren't training with Leafnose." Leafnose was her mentor. "Is something wrong?"

She suddenly longed to spill her secret of her father but she held back. She couldn't. Even though Tigerpaw suffered from the constant threat of Goldstripe's next move. The pain in her heart from her father's abuse weighed heavily on her heart, but her lips wouldn't move to speak any words.

"Are you plagued with nightmares, perhaps?" Spottedstar inquired, beginning to groom her ginger-and-white pelt.

Tigerpaw shook her head. "No."

"In love with a tom?"

She shook her head.

"Tired?"

"Yes," she lied.

Spottedstar blinked at that, as if she didn't quite believe that but she said nothing. An ear twitched and a large white tom burst into the den. His eyes were bulging in disbelief and horror coursed off his fur. The newcomer's breathing was ragged and it came out in short gasps.

"Spotted...star...trouble...outside," his words had spaces inbetween which he used for regaining his breath.

The ginger-and-white she-cat's eyes turned worried. "Did you say trouble, Stonefall?"

The white tom nodded rapidly. Spottedstar and Tigerpaw rushed outside, forgetting their conversation. Tigerpaw was nervous at what she would see. Would it be an enemy clan attacking, or perhaps it was a single fox that had broken into the nursery? She wasn't prepared for what she saw.

Her father had emerged into the clearing with something hanging from his mouth. It looked like a large crow with four white spots dangling at the end of it's wings. Blood was smeared all over it. But as she looked closer she noticed that the white spots weren't on wings they were paws! The crow wasn't a crow at all but a cat!

The limp shape lying in Goldstripe's was Blackwing, the Windclan deputy.

**A/N: This's the first chapter in my story, Intertwined Hearts. I hope I did good on this chapter, it took a couple of days to put together XD. Anyways, who do you think killed Blackwing? Who seems most likely...**


	2. Prey Stealing

**I'm back, yay! I would also like to thank Stonetail, Sunshadow-and-Leaffang, and Silversky for reviewing! Thanks a lot for your reviews, I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

**Stonetail: Thanks, and as you can see chapter two is up, hooray!**

**Sunshadow-and-Leaffang: Maybe or maybe not, but guessing is what makes it fun! :3**

**Silversky: Thanks for reviewing, and Goldstripe...he can't die just yet *evil grin***

**Chapter Two - Prey-Stealing**

Mist swirled into the Shadowclan camp, wreathing around many cat's paws. It slinked up the pine trees, grappling the bark with invisible claws. Trees swayed as a distant wind crashed into the camp, warning of a coming storm. Thunder boomed as lightning prepared to strike the ground below. No cat seemed too scared of the storm, just cautious and weary.

A pure white tom watched as a pale gray tabby she-cat climbed her way to the top of an old pine tree. Her eyes burned with a furious fire as she let out a yowl to summon the clan. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey join me here beneath the Oldpine!" Fogpaw assumed she had just learned something important from one of her recent patrols.

The size of cats in the clearing swelled and soon Fogpaw started to feel uncomfortable at the amount of space that had suddenly decreased. His tail tip twitched with annoyance as some cat pushed past him. He heard some irritated murmurs among the clan.

"Why is Ivystar calling a clan meeting now, just after dawn?"

"With this storm it hardly seems like dawn," One cat answered the first with a dull sigh.

"I hope it doesn't rain," another cat mewed, probably staring at the clouds overhead.

Fogpaw was slightly amused by these comments. They didn't seem worried in the least at Ivystar's call. Apparently they were too tired to care about the news their leader had.

The gray she-cat continued once the clan finished gathering, her claws unsheathed. "Thunderclan has been trespassing and stealing our prey!"

That got the clans attention. Whispers and accusations flooded the clan immediately, anger and surprise radiating from each cat's pelts. Fogpaw himself was startled by the news. It was unthinkable that Thunderclan, the clan who was extremely loyal to the warrior code, would steal prey from another clan. The white tom wondered if something had happened to the clan to drive them to the point of disobeying the warrior code.

"W-What do we do about t-them?" asked a blue-silver tom named Dewclaw.

A couple of cats curled their lips in disgust at the timid cat. Dewclaw was always considered a coward and was known by many to run away in battle whenever he had a chance. Fogpaw thought it kind of unfair for cats to look down on Dewclaw; he was a good hunter for the clan and often caught good prey.

Ivystar looked at Dewclaw calmly, her face showing no sign of the same disgust her clanmates held. The pale gray tabby she-cat twitched an ear before she spoke again. "I want a patrol to talk to Bearstar about this _problem_ and ask him to stop." Whispers once again spread through the crowd beneath the Oldpine.

"Talk, that will hardly get those mouse-brains to listen to our words," a cat snorted.

"I agree with Stumpfire, we shouldn't talk but fight!"

The cats nodded in agreement with the last cat's words. If Thunderclan were stealing prey from them, they probably wouldn't even attempt to hear Shadowclan out but instead deny that they were prey-stealing. A rally of cries went up. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Fogpaw found himself joining in with the chorus.

Ivystar gritted her teeth before silencing her clan with a flick of her tail. Fogpaw cocked his head. _Doesn't she agree we should fight against those mice-for-brains?_ The pale leader let out a low growl. "We are going to them peacefully, I do not war among our clans if we can settle this without a fight," there were a few grumbles from the clan but they all nodded their heads grimly.

"Good," Ivystar sighed, as if she had been expecting a rebellion against her words, "we shall send a small patrol over. These are the cats who'll go; Boulderfur, Fallentree, myself and...Fogpaw."

Fogpaw nearly fell over. Him, of all the cats to be picked for the patrol it had to _him_? Shock vibrated from his pelt and he leapt to his paws. "W-Why me?" he mewed.

"Yeah, why does he get to go?" a cream tabby she-cat named Sorrelpaw growled. "Why not us?" she pointed with her tail to the rest of the Shadowclan apprentices sitting behind her.

Ivystar looked at the apprentices with a warm smile. "Because, he's the great-grandson of Smokestar and I feel he should experience this."

The apprentices eyes widened in shock, but Fogpaw was confused and puzzled at the name. _Smokestar?_ He felt like he had heard the name somewhere, in a dream perhaps. However, looking at the startled faces of the apprentices around him, he assumed the cat was a very popular one.

The pale gray leader snapped him out of his thoughts. "We will leave now," she rasped.

Fogpaw padded over to the small group of cats organized at the entrance. The pure white tom found it slightly interesting how it was made up of the leader, deputy, medicine cat, and then an _ordinary _apprentice.

They all left at once, hurrying east to Thunderclan territory. Traveling through the pine trees, the patrol paid no attention to their surroundings. Though if they did, they'd have noticed the clouds rolling over them, releasing a shower of rain. Their pelts soon grew heavy with water as they neared the border.

Fallentree pulled to a halt, her ears pricked up and her mouth opened. "Ivystar," she hissed, "stop and listen."

The pale gray leader looked at her medicine cat, puzzled by the command. She leaned forward and angled her ears for any sound that might've been muffled by the sound of their paws. Fogpaw copied her as well and picked up a faint voice up ahead. The words slowly pieced themselves together.

"Great catch, Sparrowpaw!" one voice purred.

"T-Thanks, but a-are you sure it's o-okay to take this from S-Shadowclan?" a second voice mewed timidly.

Boulderfur's ears flattened back and a low growl formed from his throat as he caught the words. "So they _are_ prey-stealing!" he snarled, leaning forward to hear more.

"Nah, those cats have frogs for brains, so they'll be too scared to show their sorry faces. Even if they do, we'll just deny that we stole anything," the first voice sneered.

Ivystar rushed forward, despite having her pelt weighed down by water. The others followed, but Fogpaw found it difficult to as he slipped in the mud, turning his pelt brown and slimy. Eventually, his pace was forced to a slow walk as his pelt was keeping him from moving quickly. When he reached his patrol again, he found his leader standing over a black tom, her teeth bared.

"So Thunderclan is prey-stealing!" she hissed, glaring at the tom, "You call us cats with frogs for brains, but you are the ones with frog-brains. You think we wouldn't notice the blood left behind from each kill going into your territory, or the scent of Thunderclan on our border? Despicable!"

The cat underneath her struggled uncomfortably under the leader's piercing gaze. He flinched at the words she gave him, looking at a brown apprentice now and then. The younger Thunderclan cat seemed filled with fear as he watched, and he shook with terror. Fogpaw felt sympathy for the younger cat, the apprentice was only about six moons old and probably new to the warrior code. The pure white tom looked at the other cat and shook his head in disgust. The warrior was acting like a coward under Ivystar's claws.

Ivystar slowly let the tom up, keeping her eyes on him. He scrambled to his paws and looked relieved, his body shaking. His apprentice scurried to him, eyes wide with panic as the Shadowclan cats advanced. Ivystar curled her lips at the Thunderclan cats.

"Take me to your leader."

**That ends this chapter with a sort of cliffhanger, right? Next up is Grasspaw, I'm kind of excited for his PoV. Oh and by the way, once we get to chapter four, we'll start seeing double PoV's, maybe even triple, which is awesome. Anyways, review!**

**-Stormyblaze**


	3. Outcast

**Chapter 3 - Outcast**

In a part of the clan territory, untouched by trees, rivers sweeped through the land. Where these rivers combined was an island almost isolated from land, save for the small strip of land acting as a bridge. Foaming water soaked it's edges, threatning to devour anything or anyone on it. The occupants of the island, however, seemed not to heed the hungry river.

Grasspaw was sitting on the edge of the island, ears back and head sinking in misery. He stared at the waves that lapped at the shore and gazed at the fish with longing. The black tom with light green eyes sometimes wished he could swim with them in their groups called schools. But he knew that would never happen

A sudden push from behind and Grasspaw was in the water, his legs splayed out and his fur now soaked with river water. Snickers filled the air as the apprentice started struggling wildly in the water, his eyes wide. His back legs kicked out, sending splashes of sand in all directions.

"Scared of water?" one of the voices sneered.

In truth, he was scared of water. The way it combed through his fur, promising his death, he couldn't stand being in it. So as he struggled to get up and out of the water, he got closer to breaking into tears.

Three cats surrounded him, forcing him into the water despite his efforts to get out. The largest cat, a long-limbed black apprentice, spoke in a cruel, malicious tone. "You're pathetic, a Riverclan cat and afraid of water? I can't even comprehend it. You're nothing but a waste of space!"

"Russetpaw, isn't that a bit too...harsh?" one voice said timidly. Shrewpaw.

"Yeah, it's not like the space-waster can understand what we're saying," a third voice piped. Bramblepaw.

The long-limbed tom, Russetpaw, leaned forward and spoke softly in Grasspaw's ears, thought not without a trace of arrogance. "You should just leave our clan and join those rule-lovers who dare to call themselves Thunderclan. I'm sure a useless cat like you would fit right in," and with that, Russetpaw turned and walked away followed by Shrewpaw and Bramblepaw.

Grasspaw, almost in tears and filled with sorrow and rage, heaved himself out of the water, shaking uncontrollably. It wasn't fair. It wasn't his fault he was born into Riverclan with a fear of water, looked down upon because of it. _It'll be alright_, he told himself doubtfully. _It'll be night soon and then I can escape from this place of torture_.

The black tom glanced at the strip of land that connected the island to the outside world. It was the path he always used to move from the Riverclan camp to the territory around it. That strip was always there, providing him with an escape route to his phobia.

Fur sopping, he padded to the strip of land and began moving across it. Avoiding areas where water licked the land, he made his way to the end, hope beginning to inflate in his chest. His movements began to become blurry as he raced with joy, loving the feel of grass beneath his paws. His excitement, however, was soon pulled to a halt as he bumped into something. That something was the clan deputy, Stoatnose.

The cream she-cat looked annoyed as she backed away, tail high in the air. "Watch it!" she growled in a stuck-up voice. "I don't want your filthy fur touching mine!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Grasspaw nearly squeaked.

"You'd better be," she bared her teeth. "I have a important meeting with Reedstar to attend and I don't want to go with your _stink_ all over me."

She rudely went around him and walked away, her nose high enough in the air to touch Starclan.

Grasspaw found a clump of grass and huddled there, sulking. His thoughts were lost in self-pity and burning hatred towards the cats who were supposed to be his clanmates.

Night had fallen upon the lake territories. The sky dark blue, flecked with stars. A half moon hung overhead, casting pale light upon the gurgling rivers. Grasspaw had long since moved from his sulking spot, and now he walked on the borders of Thunderclan territory.

He had no doubt in his mind that he hadn't gone missed in the Riverclan camp, they never cared where Grasspaw was. Not even his mentor, Troutstrike, would bother to check up with him. He was no more than a shadow within his clan. Unseen. Not missed. Sometimes he wondered that if he was dead, would anyone care? Would they seek him out, desperate to repair their damage? Or would their memory of him become nothing more than a distant dream? He did not know.

Grasspaw's feet flew across the sprouts of grass as a ginger she-cat raced to meet him, her eyes sparkling with kindness. This was her, the one cat who liked him. The one cat he liked. Their noses touched briefly in affection as the two greeted each other. "Brightpaw," he whispered her name, breathing in her scent.

The ginger she-cat blinked. "Did you miss me?" she asked. A note of hope threaded it's way in her words.

"Of course, you're the whole world to me!" He beamed, emotions seeping back into him.

"Good," Brightpaw said in relief. Her eyes gazed at his green ones. "So, why so sulky?"

Grasspaw lowered his head, hunching his shoulders together. Eyes glazing over, the black-furred apprentice spoke in a furious whisper.

"They bully me and treat me like some kind of disease that will make them ugly. It's not my fault I was born into Riverclan with a fear of water. I can't help it."

Brightpaw looked at him, a kind of anger lighting her gaze. "Why don't you just join me in Thunderclan? It'll solve everything!" Again, hope filled her voice as she gazed at the cat she loved.

He turned his head away. "I-I can't."

Her eyes widened into black moons. Hurt was evident in her golden eyes. Her tail lowered in disappointment as she spoke. "Why not?"

It was two simple words and yet Grasspaw felt like they held some important meaning in them. His ears slid forward slightly. "It'll just make the teasing worse, they'll use it against me, calling me a traitor."

"So?" she mewed. "Why listen to taunts from them? They'll just be former clanmates, their words will be meaningless. All you have to do is ignore them."

Anger bubbled in his chest. "Do you think I don't try?" he cried furiously. "I constantly stay away, trying to ignore their endless teasing but it just gets worse and worse! They think me nothing better than a harmless flea-bag who they can take their anger out on!"

Brightpaw, even more hurt by these words, backed away. Anger was now taking ahold of her too. "I'm just trying to help you," she whispered. "But I see you don't want my help."

She wheeled around and took off, hurt throbbing in her chest.

Grasspaw, realizing his rant had hurt her, called after her. His paws reached the border but did not cross them for a patrol was heading his way. Stung, he fled the border. His paws took him across edge of the lake, sending puffs of sand into the air. He reached Riverclan territory, guilt filling him for taking out his anger on Brightpaw.

The black apprentice reached a hole in the ground, masked by the scent of a rabbit and hidden behind a boulder. He entered it, curling into a ball. Grasspaw suddenly wished that he had taken her offer of joining Thunderclan as loneliness entered his heart. He wanted to be with her, to run by her side. He wanted to be at Brightpaw's side, no matter what.

**Yeah, so this's late. I kind of lost interest in it, I admit. But after I realized I never really finished this, I decided to continue. I promise I'll do more regular updates, whether I have to forced myself to do it or not...so yeah.**

**Anyways, this's Grasspaw's PoV. We get to see his relationship with Riverclan and a little with of his relationship with Brightpaw. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll see more of her soon, whether it be in the form of a furious and hurt kitty, or a calm kitty. We shall see... *evil laugh***

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D**


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